POULTRY DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT 
may turn out to be an epidemic and con- 
tagious form. 
Diarrhea, Severe and Epidemic 
Symptoms. Excessive looseness of 
bowels, ruffling of feathers, depression, loss 
of appetite. A number of birds in the flock 
are attacked and death results. 
Cause. ‘There are a variety of causes. 
Scientific investigation has led to the dis- 
covery of specific organisms responsible for 
various forms of diarrhea. It would be 
well for poultry rearers to study the results 
of such work, but, for the purposes of this 
book, it will be sufficient to state that the 
causal organism may be bacterial, mycotic, 
or protozoan. The owner of poultry will 
not usually be able himself to determine 
what type of diarrhea the fowls are suffer- 
ing from, but as a rule the treatment will 
have to be the same. Advice will have to 
be sought from an expert when dangerous 
epidemics are feared. 
Treatment. The most energetic meas- 
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